This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

So what is Hollywood putting in our stockings this Christmas?

For starters: Frenchmen on the barricades, a Russian noblewoman in disgrace, a Hobbit on the road, an ex-slave out for revenge, a family struggling to survive a killer tsunami, a famed filmmaker seeking a new challenge, a married couple facing up to 40, a president entertaining British royalty, and intelligence agents hunting for Osama Bin Laden.

"The Collection" • In this horror thriller, a man (Josh Stewart) escapes the clutches of a serial killer, only to be kidnapped by a victim's wealthy father to rescue his daughter (Emma Fitzpatrick) from the same killer.

"Killing Them Softly" • Brad Pitt plays a mob "enforcer" investigating a heist at a mob-protected poker game in director Andrew Dominik's adaptation of a George V. Higgins novel.

"Somewhere Between" • Four U.S. teens, all adopted from China due to complications of China's "One Child" policy, are profiled in this documentary.

Dec. 7

"Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel" • The larger-than-life fashion editor gets the documentary treatment.

"The Loneliest Planet" • An engaged couple (Gael GarcÃ­a Bernal, Hani Furstenburg) go backpacking in the Caucasus mountains, where one misstep changes everything in their relationship.

"Waiting for Lightning" • Skateboarder Danny Way's effort to jump over the Great Wall of China is depicted in this documentary.

Dec. 14

"The Flat" • Israeli filmmaker Arnon Goldfinger cleans out the apartment belonging to his late grandparents  immigrants from Nazi Germany  and discovers clues to a complex and shocking story.

"Hitchcock" • Anthony Hopkins has a ball portraying the legendary director when he risks his career on his next movie: "Psycho." Helen Mirren plays Hitchcock's wife, Alma; Scarlett Johansson portrays Janet Leigh.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" • Director Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth with the first of a three-part prequel to "The Lord of the Rings."

"Holy Motors" • A shadowy character takes on many roles in Leos Carax's surreal drama, which made quite a splash at Cannes this year.

Dec. 19

"The Guilt Trip" • A comedy about an inventor (Seth Rogen) who goes on a road trip to sell his latest creation  with his mother (Barbra Streisand) along for the ride.

"Monsters Inc. 3D" • Pixar's 2001 adventure of monsters scaring kids to power their world returns in a 3-D conversion ahead of next summer's prequel, "Monsters University."

Dec. 21

"Any Day Now" • A gay couple (Alan Cumming, Garrett Dillahunt) in the '70s fight for custody of the abandoned teen with Down syndrome who comes to live with them.

"Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D" • The theatrical circus troupe combines elements from its Vegas stage shows to tell the story of lovers searching for each other across time and space, with help of director Andrew Adamson ("Shrek") and producer James Cameron ("Avatar").

"The Other Son" • Two young men, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, discover they were switched at birth in this French-made drama.

"This Is 40" • The married couple from "Knocked Up," Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann), take center stage in director Judd Apatow's look at turning the big four-oh.

Dec. 25

"Django Unchained" • Quentin Tarantino takes on the Western with this action tale of an ex-slave (Jamie Foxx) seeking to free his beloved (Kerry Washington) from a nasty plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).

"Parental Guidance" • Billy Crystal and Bette Midler play a couple assigned by their daughter (Marisa Tomei) to watch the grandkids and to adjust to the children's overscheduled lives.

Dec. 28

"Simon & the Oaks" • This Swedish drama follows the lives of two boys, one of them Jewish, who meet in school in 1939.

Jan. 4

"The House I Live In" • Eugene Jarecki's Sundance-winning documentary, a personal and detailed look at the failures of 40 years of America's war on drugs.

"Hyde Park on Hudson" • Bill Murray plays Franklin Roosevelt, playing host to King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) in 1939 while engaging in an affair with a distant cousin (Laura Linney).

"Texas Chainsaw 3D" • A young woman discovers her inheritance includes a secret in this revisit to the horror franchise.

Jan. 11

"Barbara" • A drama set in East Germany in the 1980s, as a Berlin doctor (Nina Hoss) is banished to a rural town.

"Brooklyn Castle" • A Brooklyn middle-school chess team achieves national prominence, while the school battles budget problems, in this documentary.

"Gangster Squad" • Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin lead a '50s anti-mobster unit out to get Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) in this stylish cop drama, which was delayed and retooled after the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting this July.

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